William adamson



@uiten tstrs stgnt @Affitta WILLIAM ADAMSON, F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters PatentiNo. 62,517, (Za-ted March ,3, 1867.

IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR WASHING PIBROUS SUBSTANCES.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM ADAMSON, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Apparatus for Washing Fibrous Substances; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to the letters of reference marked thereon. i

My invention consists of certain apparatus, fully described hereafter, for thoroughly and rapidly washing, with a moderate supply of Water, hair, wool, and other ibrous material. A

In order to enable others familiar with apparatus of this class to make and use my invention, I will now proc'eedto describe its construction and operation. On reference to the accompanying drawing. which forms a part of this speeiication- Figure 1 is a'plau view of my apparatus for washing hair, wool, and other iibrous substances.

Figure 2, a vertical section on the line 13, ig.`1. i

Figure 3, a vertical section on the liuc 3 4, fig, 1; and

Figure 4, a vertical. section of part of the apparatus on the line 5 6, fig. l.

Siinilarletters refer to similar parts throughout the several views,

A is a trough or reservoir, separated by a partition, a, into two channels, communicating with e'ach other at opposite ends of the trough, so that the water and other contents may be impelled in the courses pointed out by the arrows,'the trough'being infact very similar to that of trag-mill used in paper manufactories. Situated at right angles to the trough A, but elevated above thelatter, is an oblong trough, B. Above these troughs, and connected to the same by suitable uprights, is the framework C for supporting the gearing, described hereafter. rPhe driving-shaft D extends across the trough A, and turns in suitable bearings on th'e edges of the same, and on this shaft, between the side o and partition a of the trough' A, is a wheel, E, provided with paddles, c, and above the wheel is a suitable cover, d. Beneath the wheel E is a perforated* shield, F, one end of which is secured to a projection, e, on the bottom of the trough, the portion of the shield beneath the wheel being of the concave form shown in `fig. 4, and rising to a poiut,f, from whence it descends with a curve,`gt, to the bottom of thc trough, to which it is secured. A pipe, j, communicates With'the space t between the shield and bottom of the trough, the pipe having suoli a stulingbex, G, fig. 3, that it can be adjusted to any desired angle, (see dotted lines, iig. 4.) Between 'the partition a and side b of the trough A, is a cone-shaped roller, I-I, haring curved teeth, lc. This roller issecurcd to a shaft, c, having ya pulley, 7c, a beltfrotn which passes rounda pulley, Z, on the shaft I), which has also a drivingpulley, Z. In suitable bearings on the frame C turns a shaft, I, having Ytwo pulleys, m and m', a belt, m, from the latter pulley, passinground a pulley on thc driving-shaft D. At right angles to the shaft I, and geared thereto by bevel-Wheels n n, is a shaft, J, on which -are two pulleys, p andp. In thc trough A, between its partition a and side b', turns a roller, K, and a similar roller, L, turns in bearings in the uprights g of the frame C, the latter roller having a pulley, 1', for receiving a belt from the pulley m of the shaft I. Passing round the two rollers K and .L, are three or other suitable number of'belts, M M IWI, which are connected together at intervals by cross-slats, N, each of which has a row of teeth, e, so that the belts with the cross-slats form an endless rake. In the trough B turn three or more rollers, P P and P, on the surface of each of which are a number of bent teeth, the rollers being caused to revolve simultaneously in the direction of their arrows by a suitable system of bclting or gearing.v Near one end of the trough B turns a roller, It, and a shaft, fw, carrying a larger roller, S, turns in suitable bearings on the frame C, a pulley, a, on this shaft receiving a belt from the pulley p, on the shaft J. Twobelts pass round the rollers R and S, and these belts are connected together by a number oflslats, e. In some cases I propose to-use two'rollers yy, situated in respect to the endless band of slats as shown by red lines fig. 3, for a purpose described hereafter.

Operation.

' supply of clean water is introduced through the pipe t, into the oblong trough B, where the last Washing alluded to hereafter is conducted. The water passes over the rear end of this trough into a receptacle, B, at the cud of the same, and passes thence through the pipe t', (fig. 2,) into the trough A at the rear end of the same. As the paddle-wheel E revolves iu the direc-tion of the arrow, there must be a constant How of waterin thcV direction of the arrows, through the two channels of the trough A, precisely as in the rag-mill used in pape1-woiks. The yhair, wool, or other fibrous material to he washed is thrown into the trough at lthe rear of the paddle-wheel E, between which andthe perforated shield F, the libres are carried. By the combined action of thewheel and shield the masses of fibresbecome broken up and distributed, and in this condition are carried with the stream of water towards the conical spiked roller H, which again agitates andv separates the fibres. It

may be remarked here that should the toothed roller H be .cylindrical instead of conical, thelibres would y accumulate at one end of it, but by making the roller of the tapering form represented, the fibres in contact with it are equally distributed throughout its length, and after leaving the roller are equally distributed throughout the width of the channel along which they must take their course-an important feature, as will be readily understood hereafter. Thefibres which have thus been agitated and separated by the action ot' the roller H, have received their preliminary washing, and are carried in a well-distributed mass towards the endless rake composed Aof the belts M and their spiked slats, by which rake the fibres are carried upwards and thrown over into the trough B, near to the point where the fresh water enters thc same. Here the libres receive their last washing in clean water by the action of' the toothed rollers P P', and P, which also propel the libres along the trough towards the endless baudl T, of slats, up which the bres are carried, and from which they fall into a proper receptacle or onto any appliances for conveying the Wet fibres to an adjacent drying apparatus.- When the rollers yy, (iig. 3,) are used, they serve to compress from the fibres thevsuperfluous water, which falls into the trough B. By using two washing troughs, and by causing the supply of water to pass first into the trough where the last and cleauest washing is conducted, and thence into the 'trough where the lirst washing takes place, as thorough a cleansing of the fibrous material is effected as if two-separate machines with two supplies; or, in other words, double the quantity of water were used. It is important that the water should he carried o'f at a point nea-r the paddle-wheel E, for it is at this point where the greatest amount of d irt'is discharged from the fibres. Should the water be carried oil' from the space heneaththe perforated shield F, directly through the bottom of the trough, such a partial Ivacuum would be caused beneath the shield that the ibres would collect above it, choke the perforations, and prevent the free escape of the dirty water. The discharge pipe j may be so adjusted that its upper endl is nearly as high as the desired level of water in the trough, so i that while it serves to .carry olf the dirty water from beneath the shield, no such vacuum can be caused there as to produce the above-mentioned objectionable results. It will be evident that the system of belts, pulleys, and other driving appliances may he changedrand many dilferentparts of the apparatus modified without departing from the main features of my invention. l

I claim as my invention, and'dcsire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The use, for washing brous material, of two troughs and one supply of Water, which first passes into and through the trough where the last washing is conducted, and thence into the trough where the irstwashing takes place, all substantially as set 'forthfor the purpose specied.

2. The adjustable pipej, arrangedfor the Withdrawal of the dirty'water from the trough beneath the.

perforated shield F, substantially as described.

' 3. rlhe trough B, with its rollers P. l

4. The combination of the said rollers P with the endless band T of slats. 5. The endlessband T, in combination with the rollers yy. I

In testimony whereofl have signed my name to this spcoitication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WM. ADAMSON. Witnesses H. HowsoN, C. B. PRIcn. 

